Saturday, January 2, 2016

Happy New Year - Randomday

Happy New Year!

The Last Noel had to be moved up by a week this year... instead of a party in the vicinity of Epiphany, we held it on New Year's Day. It was a smaller crowd than usual, but the Sloppy Joes were still very popular and used up almost the entire 15 pounds of ground beef. Since school hasn't started back up yet, the crowd was mostly from church, and the boys' particular friends. It was in conflict with a dance being held by the young people of the church and a few other events, but we still had a nice time and were able to hear people talk for the most part!

My laptop is misbehaving. It is a combination of a dying battery, which doesn't hold a charge long or doesn't charge fully, and a loose charging port, where the connection of the cord to the battery charger requires me to hold the cord in the socket a certain way for a connection to be made, and it's getting harder and harder to make that connection. As a result, I'm increasingly reluctant to unplug it and take it in to school, where it might hold a charge long enough to be useful for an hour or two but I might never get it re-connected to charge when I bring it home. It's on Steve's radar of things that will need replacement soon, I think, but not until after we pay for Daniel and Peter's semester tuition. And the Christmas bills. And the fence repair. Yes, while we were out Monday evening watching the Dr. Who Christmas special showing at the Clackamas Town Center, vandals came along and smashed in several of the pickets on our front fence. And our mailbox, but it's already been smashed multiple times. They tossed a Columbia jacket over the fence at the same time. I don't know if the intent was to cover the damages, but it does fit Daniel after we washed out the delinquent cooties.

Peter leaves next week for WSU; his first Freshman semester, since his AIT ran into September. Steve will go out with him to attend orientation with him and help him get settled; I've been doing all the college shopping runs with him this past week, in between cooking for the Last Noel. He is a quick decision-maker and knows exactly what he wants when shopping. It feels a bit unreal, having two sons in college. Of course, this will be Daniel's last semester. Sooner than we realize, we'll be attending his graduation. Definitely unreal.

I was lazy this morning, recovering from party hostessing last night and drinking leftover punch and spiced cider and eating cookies and pasta salad for breakfast. Then I took Peter shopping for boots, twin xl sheets, laundry detergent and slippers this afternoon. Then I jumped into sewing and worked on the Allietare mystery quilt and two other quilts, heated up frozen pizza for dinner, and watched Brave with the girls. Then Steve and I watched a documentary on the creative and personality conflicts surrounding Gene Roddenberry and the making of Star Trek: Next Generation. It was quite fascinating, actually. Flaky creative types vs. people who approach their art more methodically, and all of them tossed into a mix with bottom-line executives and control freaks. It's a wonder the show ever lasted.

As for myself, I finished 14 blocks of the 50 I'll need for Allietare today, and I'm feeling pretty good about that progress. Pictures Monday, with more progress, I hope.